The Boy Who Had No Heart
by Zollercoaster
Summary: Sometimes he sits and thinks, and sometimes, he just sits. For as long as Kuronue can remember, that’s all he’s ever done.


I just had to write this, I just had to! This is the story of Kuronue, long before he met Youko. This story is stand alone, and requires absolutely no pseudo knowledge of any kind.

**Summary**: _Sometimes he sits and thinks, and sometimes, he just sits. For as long as Kuronue can remember, that's all he's ever done. They called him heartless, but is that really the case? Or is he just waiting for a prince to save him? Everyone has their secrets, even him._

**Pairings: **Kuro/Kura, and any other random relationships I decide he had before Youko

**Warnings:** violence

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, but I do own this disclaimer (which I actually remembered for once…)

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Chapter 1: The Tower

In a far off, remote region of Makai, there is a stone town, enclosed by walls. There, it is said, the chimeras dwell. Each chimera is unique, made up of random parts from other demons. Not even the chimeras are entirely sure if the legends are true. The one thing they do know however is that chimeras occasionally turn out different than what is considered normal.

Sometimes they're blind or deaf, but they can still function. Sometimes they're crippled. In that case, depending on the severity, others will take them in. If too severe, they are left at one of the five gates around the village, where legend says all chimeras are created from.

Every now an then however, a true anomaly occurs. A chimera is born without a heart. It functions fine, but it doesn't feel anything. No one even knows if they can hurt, because no one's ever seen a heartless chimera react.

Those chimeras are shunned. Nobody wants to deal with something that unnerving. Usually, within a few years of their birth, they die from neglect.

Once though, a young chimera by the name of Katsuro changed everything. Only a few years older than the other chimera, Katsuro became enamored with him.

When the heartless one, Kuronue, was finally deemed a heartless one, the other chimeras were all in favor of killing him.

Katsuro, his neighbor, decided he couldn't let that happen. He promised to deal with Kuronue, and locked him away in a tower. The tower also functioned as one of the town's gates.

It was tall and isolated. On one side, a ways away, was the town. On the other side, outside the town, none of the chimeras bothered with.

And it is there in that tower that this story begins. Kuronue, the heartless one, was now a twelve-year old. With bat wings that had never once been used, he stayed locked in the tower.

Katsuro came and went, not so devoted to his charge that he was willing to give up the rest of his life.

Katsuro usually went out in the evenings and returned in the morning. This evening was no different.

"I'm going out tonight Kuronue" the chimera informed his charge. "Stay in your room."

"Yes Katsuro." The empty-eyed boy responded.

The door slammed, and the other demon left. Normally, by his age, Kuronue would be out all night with friends. But no, the bat was different.

He sat there, absently staring at the ceiling above his bed.

He always obeyed Katsuro. After all, Katsuro was the one who protected him. According to Katsuro, everything was all right just the way it was. Kuronue didn't really care about all that, but it seemed to make Katsuro feel better.

Katsuro had always protected him. From what, he wasn't sure. But apparently, the proper thing to do when someone protected you was to obey him. At least that's what Katsuro told him.

He didn't really care if he was 'safe' or not, but it wasn't as if there was anything else for him to do. Life was so boring, but it didn't really matter. He was just a thing, so there was no point in feeling anything.

After all, whenever the elder chimera spent time with him, he always said just that.

"_Stand against the wall." He commanded._

"_Yes." The empty-eyed boy did as he was commanded, bracing himself with his hands._

_Katsuro leaned in to whisper in his ear. "You'll always obey me, right?"_

_Dull-eyed, Kuronue responded. "Yes, Katsuro."_

_The madman threw his head back and cackled. "That's right, my Kuro. As long as you listen to me, I can keep you safe."_

"_Yes, Katsuro."_

_The demon's arm moved so quickly, slashing a cut in his cheek, that Kuronue barely even saw it. He didn't react as Katsuro drew away, nor as he felt the whip come slamming down against his back._

_The demon continued laughing as the frenzy of blows rained down on him. "You're mine!" Katsuro shouted. "Mine and mine alone!"_

_Even as his vision, bleary from the pain, began to fail him, Kuronue did not cry out. "Yes,Katsuro." Came his automatic response. _

"_It's your place." He continued, as if trying to assure himself. "You're heartless; it's okay, because you have no heart." The ravings of the madman went on. "Your job is to obey me, and only me. You needn't have a heart, because I can protect you."_

"_Command me." The chimera chanted through his pain. "Yes, Katsuro. Use me. As long as it's you, it's alright." The mantra fell from his lips as it had so many times before, of his own volition. "I will obey only you." Forever._

_The heartless have no need to think for themselves._

And, true to his word, Kuronue kept his mind empty. Nothing else existed. He swung the chain Katsuro gave him, and he stayed where he was. Chained in a dark prison; a place with no light.

The silver chain bound every word together. Every order, every blow, every tear he didn't shed; bound by everything but feeling nothing.

The heartless one. That was what they called him. The chimera that was created without a heart. Kuronue: he who had a black hole where his heart should be.

No one needed an emotionless doll; no one wanted that. But Katsuro wanted to protect him. According to him, the only reason that Kuronue was locked in this tower was for him to be of use to Katsuro, and to stay safe.

In fact, everything he knew, Katsuro had told him. How could he believe anything else? As long as he had Katsuro's orders and this chain, nothing, neither joy nor sorrow, could touch him.

And the chain kept swinging back and forth, back and forth, until Kuronue too, fell back. A deep sleep consumed him, until even the night entered its final stage.

Then, he woke up and saw the moon.

Outside his window, the bright, full moon swallowed up the sky. Kuronue crept over and sat down on the windowsill, his legs dangling over the mile-long abyss, staring blankly. Any outsider who saw him would think he was only imprisoned in the tower, not knowing that his real prison was much smaller.

Normally at night, he would swing his silver chain obsessively and lose himself in the hypnotic rhythm. But on nights like this, he just sat.

The moon filled the sky: there was no room to think; there was no room to fly. All there was was emptiness, and the deep abyss below his feet.

Suddenly, he was falling. Falling, strangely, without fear or excitement. Was it really true then? Did he have no heart; no feelings?

His body hit earth, and then he had no thoughts at all.

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And that's that. It took me forever to start this, because I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do at the beginning. Thanks to Princess Tutu, Loveless, and A Tale Of Two Cities, I think this should be a delightfully morbid story.


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